Essays and articles on how schools understand themselves.
I write about the questions I keep encountering in the schools I work with. Why enrollment numbers rarely tell the whole story. What families are actually reading when they read a school. How language shapes what a community can say about itself, and what happens when the words the school is using no longer fit the school it has become.
Some of these are pieces published in industry outlets. Others are essays hosted here. New writing appears at the top.
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A Framework for the Work
Published online as “Looking Beyond the Numbers: A Framework for Enrollment Clarity.”
When a school treats an enrollment blip as a messaging problem, the actual problem tends to compound while the school works on the wrong thing. This framework is what I use to help schools move from the numbers on the page to a real reading of what's happening underneath, and to identify where to focus first. What I've seen it do for schools is help them steady themselves and turn effort toward the places where the work will actually change outcomes.
Reading the full article on nais.org requires NAIS membership. If you'd like a copy, or if you'd like to talk about how this framework could be used at your school, email me.
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On the Market: A Conversation with Three Heads of School
A conversation I convened with Christy Hutton of Kirby School (Santa Cruz, CA), Kim Ridley of Fayerweather Street School (Cambridge, MA), and Tim Allen of Sonoma Earth School (Forestville, CA). Three schools in different markets, with different models, all navigating enrollment pressure and the pull to be everything to everyone. What they see families actually looking for, what they're doing about it, and what the pressure has taught each of them about the shape of their own school.
Reading the full article on nais.org requires NAIS membership. If you'd like a copy, email me.